competition timeline question

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jcpetro97

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I am putting together my timeline for our first comp, and I was wondering, how much wiggle-room do you all build in to your timelines? I obviously don't want to get done too close to turn-in where we have to rush, however, I don't ant to be done too early too, so we have to have the ribs sit... any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Insulated warming box is your friend. Get your big meats done a few hours in advance and focus on ribs and chicken. It is better to be done early than done late. I will even hot box my chicken if needed.
 
big brother smoke said:
Insulated warming box is your friend. Get your big meats done a few hours in advance and focus on ribs and chicken. It is better to be done early than done late. I will even hot box my chicken if needed.
Click to expand...

That's right, resting won't hurt the big meats, and a couple of hours helps them. Resting doesn't hurt chicken, but it's also pretty consistent - you can cook it via the clock. Ribs are "done when they are done", and a short rest won't hurt them, but I won't want to hold them more than an hour.
 
With ribs, if you are going to do 6-8 slabs, do you ever stagger their start times "just in case" ?
 
I pretty much like to have big meats done between 9-10am and in the cambro...I practice really hard on chix/ribs to dial in on my cook times so at comps I have them coming off as close to turn in as possible...If ribs finish little early I will vent them and let them rest in the cambro for about 20-25 minutes and sauce them and back on to set the sauce to have them back off with time to slice and pick out the ones to build my box with...with chicken I time it to the last minute...I dont like to rest my chicken but maybe 5 minutes before tasting and going in the box...my chix goes on at 10am and is coming off at least by 10 minutes to 12 or whenever turn in is....
 
We shoot for at least an hour rest in the cambro for pork butts and briskets, a half hour for ribs after glazing, and no more than 15 minutes for chicken after glazing...:cool:
 
You need to give yourself a little wiggle room for the weather, too - like this past weekend when our EZ-up decided that while we were fixing the brisket box would be the perfect time to go airborne...

Lynn H.
 
In spite of the wind, we did manage to get the brisket box done and turned in on time. Putting extra time in the schedule allows for problems. The brisket was done around noon, even though the turn-in time was 2 pm. By the way, this brisket box won the contest and $600, which will pay for a new Ez-Up.
 
I shoot for 10:00 for butts and brisket, 11:30 and resting for ribs, and chicken at 11:45. Ribs and chicken are timed processes for me, and the results are very predictable as long as size is consistent and temperatures are controlled well. Butts are fairly predictable as well, again as long as you've done lots of practice on the cooker and the size of the butts and temperature in the cooker are consistent. Brisket on the other hand may or may not cooperate with your plans, so you definitely want to leave yourself some wiggle room there.
 
Thanks everyone.. looks like I was over estimating my time... Seems like most get done about 30min early, or so.... Thats good food for thought, as that was really where I was struggling. Thanks!!
 
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